Whip roll release for looms



March 1932- c H. DRAPER ET AL 0,

WHIP ROLL RELEASE FOR LOOMS Filed June 50, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet l i lnvenfors.

\ Ucn-e H. Draper Richard .A. K eemshy March 22, 1932. c. H. DRAPER ET AL 1,850,300

WHIP ROLL RELEASE FOR LOOMS Filed June 30, 1931 5 Shee ts-Sheet 2 Fig.3.

lnvenTors.

ATTys.

March 22, 1932. c. H. DRAPER ET AL I WHIP ROLL RELEASE FOR LOOMS Filed June :50, 1931 I s Sheets-S1169; 3

. 0. ud., W n; A fin n m e a h m C Patented Mar. 22, 19 32 um so srArss CLARE H. DR APER ANDRICH ARD A. KEARSLEY, on HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, AS-

,sreivons T0 DRAPER CORPORATION, or

'trIoN on MAINE Application filed June 30,

Looms are universally provided with an element extending across the warp sheet between the warp beam and the front of the loom and yieldingly pressed against and deflecting thewarp sheet so as to equalize the tension in the warps during the weaving operation. Such an element is usually embodied in what is known as a whip roll. While such an element is necessary to the proper weavingofthe cloth in a loom and functions advantageously and efficiently so long as the loom is running, it frequently produces an injurious effect if it remains in pressureexerting position when the loom is not running. If the loom is leftstanding evenfor a short time, as during a pick-o11t, or for a longer time, as when the loom is stopped overnight or over a week-end, the. pressure imposed by such an element as the Whip roll I upon and deflecting the warp sheet, particularly where rayon and such fibres are employed, acts to produce stretching and a more or less permanent set in the warps and to leave a mark in the finished woven cloth.

The stretching of the warps and the marking induce the movement of this element away from the warp sheet whereby any such defects in the cloth are avoided.

The object of the invention is further to provide such means which, when. moved in one direction, releases the said pressure and, when moved in the opposite direction, restores the said pressure and also which may be maintained as longas desired in the pressure-releasing position.

These and other objects andfeatures of the invention will appear more fully from the accompanying description and drawings and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

While the invention in its broader aspects may be embodied in a wide Variety oflooms PATENT. OFFICE HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORA- WHIP ROLL RELEASE FOR LOOMS 1931. Serial No. 547,818.

and in connection with various types of 'ele ments extending across the warp sheetbetween the warp beam and the front of the loom and yieldingly pressed against and defleeting the warp sheet to equalize the tentrative embodiment of the present invention is further shown in the said patent to Kearsley, it is only necessary here to illustrate and describe those features of the loom with which a preferred embodiment of the invention is particularlyconcerned.

In the drawings:

F'g. 1 is a top plan View of the left-hand rear portion of a loom such as shown in the said patent to K-earsley provided with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the construction shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3' isa rear elevation partially broken away of the loom and with only those parts shown involved in the present invention.

Fig. 4: is a view similar to Fig. 2 with the parts shown in pressure-releasing position.

The loom shown comprises the side frames 1 and 2 connected by the usual shafts and cross girts. The warp beam 3 is shown with its trunnions 4 seated in the usual bearings in the side frames. The sheet of warps 5 wound on the warp beam extends as usual upward and forward to the front of theloom through the shedding mechanism and other features of the loom unnecessary toillustrate.

At the right-hand end, the warp beam 3 is provided with a gear 6 meshing with a pinion 77 secured to a shaft 8 which extends to and forms a part of a suitable let-off mechanism which may be of the construction shown in the said Kearsley patent.

Brackets 9 and 10 secured respectively-to the side frames 1 and 2 of the loom support the warp-sheet-deflecting andwarp-tension- 7 producing elements. These are shown as of the general construction illustrated in the said Kearsley patent and are secured in place by suitable bolts 11 and 12. These brackets are each made in two sections adjustably connected as by the bolts 13 to enable the position of the warp guidin and tension equalizing rolls to conform to the required path of the warp sheet as in the said Kearsley patent. A warp guiding roll 14 is journalled in suit able hearings in the brackets 9 and 10. The tension producing element 15 corresponding to a whip roll is journalled at its ends in bearing blocks 16 and these bearing blocks are mounted to slide freely fore and aft of the loom in ways 17 formed in the rearwardly ext-ending sections of the brackets 9 and 10. The arrangement is such that by proper adjustment of the bracket sections the warp sheet when passed from the warp beam over the guide roll 14, thence under, around and over the roll toward the front of the loom, forms a loop with the side runs of the loop extending substantially horizontally in parallelism and with the roll 15 pressing against the turn of the loop.

The roll 15 therefore acts Vieldingly to the weaving operation, all in a manner set forth in tl e .aid K-earsley patent. The yielding pressure of the roll 15 on the warp sheet is secured herein in the manner shown by the Kearsley patent, that is, by the. action of a weight transmitted throu 'l suitable operative connections to the bear g blocks 16 and acting to force these hearing clocks rear ward and thus to cause the roll 15 to press against the turn of the loop in the warp sheet.

In the construction illustrated, a shaft 18 is journalled at 19 in the brackets 9 and 10 and extends transversely of the loom beneath the warp sheet. This shaft is provided at each end with sprocket wheels 20. Sprocket idlers 21 are journalled at 22 on the extreme rearconnection 25 for controlling the let-off mech anism, as in the said Kearsley patent.

At the left-hand side of the loom, a stub shaft 26 is journalled in the bracket 9. This shaft has secured to its inner end a sprocket wheel 27 around which the sprocket chain 23 at the left-hand side of the loom passes. A small'idler 28 journalled in the bracket 9 acts to maintain the engagement of the sprocket chain with this sprocket wheel 27. Near'the outer end of the shaft 26 a drum 29 is secured thereto. A strap 30 surrounds the drum, is secured at one end thereto and ter minates in a downwardly extending chain 31 supporting a series of variable weights 32. Thus it will be seen that the weights 32 act to rotate the drum 29 and the shaft 26 coun ter-clockwise and thus through the sprocket chain 23 at the lefthand side of the loom to rotate the shaft 18 clockwiseand thus cause both sprocket chains 23 simultaneously to pull the bearing blocks 16 yieldingly and thus yieldingly force the equalizing roll 15 against the turn of the loop in the warp sheet. By yarying the weights 32, therefore, the tension equalizing roll may be forced with any desired amount of pressure against the warp sheet and this desired pressure maintained constant and uniform throughout the Weaving operation.

The foregoing mechanism thus illustrated and described and involving the principles and very closely the construction shown in the said Kearsley patent is a very effective mechanism for equalizing the tension on the warp sheet and maintaining the tension in the warps uniform and constant throughout the weaving operation. But if the loom is left standing even for short periods, as during a pick-out, and particularly for longer periods, as overnight or over a week-end, a more or less permanent set isproduced in the warps and the warps are unduly stretched. This is particularly noticeable in the case of delicate yarns and of the yarns of rayon which take a permanent set when stretched.

The present invention provides manually operated means for releasing the pressure of the roll 15 on the warp sheet and also for maintaining this release of the pressure of this element on the warp sheet. This manually operated means when moved thus to effect release of the pressure of the roll 15 on the warp sheet also acts to induce a bodily shift of the roll 15 away from thewa-rp sheet because, when the pressure of the roll is released, the tension in the warps acts to draw the roll bodily forward, a movement which is assisted by the slight downward and forward slope of the ways 17.

In the construction illustrated for this purpose, the stub shaft 26' is provided adjacent the drum 29 with a ratchet wheel 33. Beneath the ratchet wheel a detent pawl 3 is journalled on a stud 35 in the bracket 9 in such a position that the detent pawl normally is held by gravity out of cooperation with the ratchet wheel 33. An operating handle 36 is freely journalled on the end of the stub shaft 26. A normally separated clutch is provided between the handle 36 and the shaft 26. In the form illustrated, this clutch comprises a plurality of radial recesses 37 formed in the face of the hub of the drum 29 and cooperating lugs 38 formed on the inner face in the position shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 and V with the detent pawl 34 in its lowermost position, this position preferably being determined by the lug 40 on the pawl engaging the loom side frame 1, as shown in Fig. 2. When the loom is stopped, the operator seizes the handle 36, moves it longitudinally of the shaft 26 until the lugs 38 engage the recesses 35, and then rotates the shaft 26 and With it the drum 29 and the ratchet wheel 33 clockwise, thus winding up the chain 31 on the drum, removing the pull of the weights 32 from the sprocket chain 23 at the left-hand side of the frame and consequently slackening this sprocket chain. This at once releases the rearward pull exerted by the sprocket chains on the bearing blocks 16 and consequently releases the pressure of. the roll 15 on the warp sheet and, furthermore, as pointed out, inducesthrough' the tension in the warp sheet the forward movement of. the roll 15 away from the warp sheet.

The operator then manually raises the detent pawl 34 into engagement with the ratchet wheel 33, thus locking the parts in this pressure-released position. I

When it is desiredto restore the warp tension equalizer, whip roll, or element for equalizing the tension in the warps to its normal pressure-exerting position, the operator again grasps the handle 36, releases the de-- tent pawl 34 and turns the shaft 26 slowly in the opposite direction until theparts are in the normal pressure-exerting,position with respect to the warp sheet.

Extreme forward bodily movement of the bearing blocks 16 and roll 15 may be limited, if desired, and for that purpose a stop plate 41 at each side of the loom is adjustably mounted as by a bolt 42 extending through a slot therein to the supporting bracket.

There is thus presented very simple, efiec tive, manually operated means enabling the operator at any time to release the pressure of the whip roll or other tension equalizing elements upon the warp sheet and thus prevent any injury to the warps whenever the loom is stopped.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is: g

1. In a loom, an element extending across the warp sheet between the warp beam and the front of the loom, yieldingly pressed against and deflecting the warp sheet to equalize the I tension in the warps during the weaving operation and manually operated means for releasing the pressure of said element on the warp sheet. I

2. In a loom, an element extending across the warp sheet between the warp beam and the front of the loom, yieldingly pressed againstand deflecting the warp sheet to equalize the tension in the warps during'the weaving operation an manually operated meansfor releasing and for maintaining released the pressure of said element on the warp sheet.

In a. loom, an:element extending across the warp sheet between the warpibeam and the front of the loom, yieldingly pressed against anddefiecting the warp sheet to equalize the tension in the warps during the weaving operation and manually operated means movable in one direction to release, and mov able in the opposite direction to restore, the pressure of said element on the-warp sheet.

4. In a loom, an element extending across the warp sheet between the warpbeamandthe front of the loom, yieldingly pressed against'an'cl deflecting the warp sheet to equalize the tension in the warps during the weaving operation and manually operated'means movable to induce both the release of the pressure of saidelement on the warp sheet and bodily shift of said element away from its normal pressure-exerting position.

5. Ina loom, an element extending acrossthe warp sheet between the warp beam and the front of the loom, yieldingly pressed against and defiectingthe warp sheet to equalize the tension in the warps during the weaving operation and manually operated means movable in one direction to induce both release of the pressure of said element on the warp sheet and bodily shift of said element away-from its normal pressure-exerting position and movable in the opposite direction to induce both restoration of the pressure of said element on the warp sheet and bodily shift of said element back to its said normal pressure-exerting position. v

6. In a 100111, a warp tension equalizer extending across the loom and mounted for bodily transverse movement, means for directing the warp sheet in its passage between the warp beam and the front of the loom in parallel runs about the equalizer, means normally acting to move the equalizer against the turn of the loop to maintain uniform tension on the warp throughout the weaving operation and means movable to induce both release of the normal action of said last-n1entioned means and bodily movement of said equalizer away from the turn of the loop thereby to release the tension in the'warps.

7 In a loom, a warp tension equalizing roll extending through, and engaging the turn of, a loop of the warp sheet in its travel between the warp beam and the front of the loom, a bearing block at each side of the loom in which the equalizing roll is journalled movable to shift the equalizing roll bodly toward and from the turn of the loop, a shaft ournalled on the loom, operative connections between said shaft and the bearing blocks, a weight connected to said shaft and normally acting to rotate the shaft and through the said operative connections to cause theequalizing roll to press against the turn of the loop, and means for rotating the shaft in the opposite direction to raise the weight and release the pressure of the equalizing roll on the warp sheet and thereby release the pressure.

8. In a loom, a warp tension equalizing roll extending through, and engaging the turn of, a loop of the warp sheet in its travel between the warp beam and the front of the loom, a bearing block at each side of the loom in which the equalizing roll is ournalled movable to shift the equalizing roll bodily toward and from the turn of the loop, a shaft journalled on the loom, operative connections between said shaft and the bearing blocks, a weight connected to said shaft and normally acting to rotate the, shaft and through the saidoperative connections to cause the equalizing roll to press against the turn of the loop, a ratchet wheel on the shaft, a handle journalled on the shaft, a normally separated clutch between the handle and the shaft and a detent pawl movable into and out of en gagement with the ratchet wheel, whereby the handle may be moved into clutching engagement with the shaft and then operated to 30 rotate the shaft to raise the Weight to a position which secures the release of the pressure of the equalizing roll on the warp sheet and the detent pawl then swung into engagement with the ratchet Wheel to lock the shaft.

5 In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to this specification.

CLARE H. DRAPER. RICHARD A. KEARSLEY. 

